Checking in on eighteen goals for 2018

At the start of this year, I wrote a list of eighteen goals for 2018, published it and promptly forgot about it. I never looked at the post again despite claiming that writing this list of goals would make me more accountable! With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to look back at those goals for the year and see if I achieved any of them (accidentally or not!) before I go and write a list of Nineteen goals for 2019 . . . (Can you spot a pattern?)

1. Keep the kitchen side clear – FAIL

We have a section of work surface in the kitchen that is basically a dumping ground for anything that comes through the door which is not immediately dealt with. I said I was going to make a conscious effort to clear the side down before bed each night which I think I manged for about a week. To be honest it has been a lot better this year, I’ve kept it clearer than it was before but it’s still not as tidy as I would like. This is definitely a goal that I need to carry through into the new year. I’m planning a big kitchen de-clutter once the children are back at school which will hopefully help as well!

2. Not be a fat bridesmaid – FAIL

“I want to enjoy the day, not be worrying about how I look and I certainly don’t want to be cringing at photos of myself afterwards.” . . . I certainly enjoyed the day, but there’s plenty of photos from the day that make me cringe. And I can’t say I’ve made any more progress since, I think weight loss needs a certain headspace doesn’t it, and I’ve definitely not been there, but as a I said last year for my own health I need to get a grip of this one so I’ll be moving this goal into the new year.

A post shared by Colette B (@goingonanadventureblog) on May 14, 2018 at 11:21am PDT

3. Find more time to write for the sake of it – WORK IN PROGRESS

Blogging is pretty much my full time job, it allows me to work from home and be there for the kids, whilst offering up some incredible opportunities that we would not have otherwise have had. Of course this means that I often find myself prioritising paid collaborations and commitments, making it hard to find the time to write just for the sake of writing and sharing our story. I don’t think that has really changed over the last year, the kids are all in full time school now so I have less to write about in a lot of ways, the milestones are fewer and further between. What I really need to be doing is capturing the ordinary moments in between I guess. I went through a phase at the end of the year of feeling like I had nothing to write about, and not really being bothered to pick up my camera. However, I think a lot of the things I would have blogged about previously now end up on my instagram – perhaps I need to refocus my attention a little next year!

4. Finish off half written posts in drafts – WORK IN PROGRESS

I’m pleased to say that I have manged to finish off and publish a number of posts I’d had sat half finished in my drafts, I also had a good clear out and deleted quite a few that just weren’t relevant any more. That said, there’s still a good 40 or so part written posts I need to go back to! I think I’ve also been better at just writing the post when it comes to mind this year rather than writing part of a post or notes and then never having chance to finish them off.

5. Add more colour to my wardrobe – FAIL

I’m still stuck in a black jersey rut – I’ve made the odd purchase which branches out for that but when I’m at home, Monday to Friday (and on the weekend too if I’m honest) it’s still very much black leggings and a black longline tee (I have four or five identical tops). I guess really this relates to my need to lose weight – I don’t want to buy clothes as I don’t like the way they look on me – or they’re just not comfortable, so I stick with what’s safe.

6. Get rid of the manky fireplace and finally redecorate the living room – WORK IN PROGRESS

We’ve been in our house for over ten years and I’ve hated our dated old fireplace for every single one of them. It took us a really long time to decide what we wanted to do with the fireplace and then, in the summer, when we finally got started, we completely changed our minds! In the end we took out not just the fireplace but the false chimney breast too which opened up some more space and gave us some flexibility around furniture. As it stands we had hoped to get the wall skimmed in the autumn but were let down by the plasterer so it will need doing in the new year now! Dave has made a start on repainting the room which has been great as there was still bits of exposed plaster from when the extension had been done four years ago! Next on the list will be a new sofa and TV stand. The living room has never felt “done” so perhaps 2019 will be the year!

7. Go to bed at a sensible time and not just mess about on my phone when I get there – WORK IN PROGRESS

Some nights I’m better at this than others. As I explained in my original post at the start of year, I rely on my phone for music, an alarm and reading on the kindle app so I can’t really leave it downstairs. I’ve got better at putting it down and leaving it alone – oddly I find an eye mask really helpful for this.

8. Stop wasting time on people who don’t have time for me – WORK IN PROGRESS

I’m not sure how much progress I’ve made on this one – I guess to a point I’ve just been a bit more careful about which friendships I focus my energies on but there’s still work to do.

9. Make time to exercise – FAIL

I think I’ve actually ended the year doing less exercise than I was doing when I started – now that Amy is in full time school I’ve lost a couple of school runs a week as she doesn’t need collecting at lunch time. I inherited my Mum’s bike back in May but have yet to find my way with it – I need to develop my confidence and carve myself a new routine which means I actually make time for exercise instead of waiting for the time to just appear.

10. Make more videos – FAIL

I love filming our days out and adventures and I had hoped to stick to something of a schedule with my uploads this year but if I’m honest I think I’ve probably filmed less than usual! I’ve made some videos which I’m really proud of, but I’ve also found myself questioning what I should be filming – what people are actually interested in watching. (In fact I’ve asked this over on my youtube channel if you want to contribute!)

11. Achieve a combined social following of 50k – FAIL

In the past I’ve set individual targets for my social channels but this year I wanted to gain 6.5k followers across my social media taking me to 50k. In fact what I’ve actually done is gain around 2k followers giving me a total following of almost 46k (which is of course not to be sniffed at!). Instagram has been a right old pain in that sense with my follower number rising and falling like the tide. For the coming year I want to concentrate on engagement rather than follower numbers, though I’m not sure quite how I will measure that.

12. Find a way to deal with PMT and cramps – WORK IN PROGRESS

At the start of the year I wrote about how my PMT and period cramps have become a real problem – I vlogged about my plans to try the contraceptive injection, and then about how the nurse had suggested we try other options first, including Cerazette. I took Cerazette for about six months – I can’t say it helped at all with my mood or cramps, we had hoped it might just stop my period all together but that wasn’t to be, in fact when I stopped taking it I had started bleeding twice a month which was exhausting me so I just didn’t renew my prescription and I’m basically back to square one with that one. I need to get back to the GP in the new year (and book a smear too while I’m at it!)

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13. To put my phone down more – WORK IN PROGRESS

I do think I’ve got better at this – but I can only be so successful with this one. I’d love to just turn my phone off and put it in a drawer sometimes but as a supply teacher I need to be contactable to be able to book work and Dave hates it if he can’t get hold of me – he’s always telling me how rubbish I am at answering my phone! That said I have all push notifications turned off so I don’t feel the need to be constantly looking at my emails or social media in general – instagram is still a massive black hole at times though!

14. Drink more – FAIL

Whilst I’ve got better at carrying drinks around for both the kids and I, I still drink far more diet pop than I do anything else and my water intake is shamefully low. I often joke that I’m part camel and I just don’t think to drink anything – I need to create a new habit.

15. Get a new car – ACHIEVED

I can’t tell you how happy I am to have achieved this goal. Our Citroen C4 Grand Picasso was set to be a nightmare from the very first time I drove it when the battery died, right through to it passing it’s MOT only for the suspension to fail the following day. We managed to get to France and back during May half-term without a problem but she finally gave up the ghost just two days later when the gear box failed and we decided it was time to cut our losses and send her to scrap. We now have a Ford S-Max and I flipping love her – she’s an absolute beauty and I still can’t believe she’s actually mine! (I’m not sure I’ve ever loved a car more – just as well really as she cost us a fortune!)

16. Explore and travel more – ACHIEVED

We started the year knowing we’d be going to France at May half term and ended it having had two foreign holidays and a number of camping trips and festivals. The kids are much easier to travel and explore with now than when they were younger – they were perfectly able to cope with the long drive to France or the four hour flight to Tenerife. Dave and I both felt, that we were much more relaxed than we had been on previous trips and are looking forward to more travel over the coming year (including a grown ups only trip to Italy!)

17. See more live music – ACHIEVED

Live music has always been a big thing for me – and I would always like to go to more gigs, but I’ve done pretty well this year. We took Ben to see Everything Everything in January, Dave and I really enjoyed the first night of the Big Feastival (especially Basement Jaxx) and were gutted to have to leave early due to illness. We did a few festivals over the summer with the kids and found they were much more open to watching acts than they had been previously – Amy especially loved dancing. Kirst and I took a jaunt to Dublin to see Bloc Party in October which was awesome as ever. I took Chloe to Hits Radio Live to see Little Mix (amongst others) in November which was easily a highlight of the year – her face was amazing. January we already have tickets booked for The Streets and Maximo Park which is going to be top! Fingers crossed we can keep up the momentum over the coming year!

18. Read more! – ACHIEVED

Thanks to the kindle app on my phone, I’ve really got into the habit of reading again. Whilst I still love to read a proper book, the app means I can pick up and put down my book wherever I am and also allows me to read in bed after Dave has gone to bed. I do quite a bit of reading in the bath too! I’ve not read anything particularly taxing if I’m honest but I did love How to be Happy and This is Going to Hurt (if you haven’t read that yet, then definitely give it a go!)

So there we go – mixed results, which is to be expected considering I didn’t really pay much attention to my goals once I’d written them down – some of them were achieved through circumstance, others were more intentional. I do plan to write nineteen goals for 2019 so we’ll see how that goes . . .